Means for displaying cards.



I B. APPLEBY. MEANS FOR DISPLAYING CARDS.

APPLICATION FILED SULYZY. 1914..

Patented Apr. 27, 1915'.

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THE NORRIS PETERS C0,, PHOTO-Urdu, WASHING mN, D. C.

B. APPLEBY.

MEANS ron DISPLAYING CARDS.

APPLICATION FILED JULYZ], I914.

- Patented Apr; 27, 1915.

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description thereof.

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BERT APPLEBY, 0E MILWAUKEE, wIscoNsIN, ASSIGNOR r0 APPLEBY AUTOMATICSIGN COMPANY, or MILWAUKEE, wIsooNsINa MEANS FOR DISPLAYING CARDS.

ill-36,919.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 2'7, 1915..

Application filed July 27, 1914. I Serial No. 853,538.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, BERT APPLEBY, a citi zen of the United States, andresident of Milwaukee, in the county of Milwaukee and State ofWisconsin, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Meansfor Displaying Cards; and I do hereby declare that the following is afull, clear, and exact My invention has for its primary object toprovide a simple, economical and effective card or table displaymechanism, the same being designed for showing individual cards bearingadvertising matter, which cards are manipulated from a stack or seriesto change automatically and at predetermined intervals.

With the above object in view the invention consists in certainpeculiarities of construction and combination of mechanical elements asset forth hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings andsubsequently claimed. a

In the drawings Figure 1 represents a face view of a card or tabledisplay mechanism embodying the features of my invention; Fig. 2, alongitudinal section of the same, the section being indicated by lines2-2 of Figsl, 3 and a; Figs. 3 and 4:, cross-sections ofthe card displaymechanism, the sections rear guide rails 23, 3, respectively, the samebeing spaced apart and divided to form upper and lower magazines forcorresponding stacks of rectangular cards or tables A, B, respectively.It is obvious that the cards may be of various sizes and made of anymaterial desirable. The space between the front and rear sets of railsis of a width approximately'equal to the width of the superimposedstacks of cards plus one card, this arrangement being for the purpose ofshifting the cards one at a time from the collecting magazinecontaining'the cards B to the upper or display magazine containingthecards A. The stack of cards are supported in the display magazine by atransversely.

wardly and the cards held in the collecting 3 magazine are supported byasimilar bottom ledge 4 that pitches forwardly, the

the rear set of rails} The bottom ledge 4 for supporting thesuperimposed stack of cards B is in abutting engagement with the frontand rear rails to form a complete closure whereby the end edges of allof the cards contained in the collecting magazine are supported. Therearrails 3 have de tachableupper sections 3, which sections may be removedfor convenience in assembling the two series of cards and saidsectionsare secured by bolts 5, the heads of, the same being adapted toengage. keyhole sock-' ets 5 that are formed in the uprights. Positionedat the front of the magazines are a pair of endless display magazinecarriers in the form of chainbelts 6, the same being car ried by upperand lower sprocket wheels 7, 7, respectively, which sprocket-wheels aremounted upon upper and lower drivenand drive shafts 8, 8, respectively,the same being journaled in suitable bearings with which theframeuprights are provided. The drive shaft 8. is in back gear connectionwith a motor C preferably of the electric type, the said back gearconnection comprising a worm 9, which worm is mounted upon the motorshaft and in mesh with a wormwheel 9 that is secured to' thedrive-shaft, it being understood that this back gear connection betweenthe drive shaft and motor may be proportioned to cause the chain beltsconstituting the carriers to move at the de sired speed. Each. of thechain belts 6 carry alined feed fingers 10, which fingers, whentraveling upward upon the working stretch of the chains, project withinthe collecting magazine a distance approximating a portion :of thethicknessof one card.

Mounted upon a rock-shaft 11 that is positioned over the driven shaft 8is a pair of presser feet 12, which presser feet are under springcontrol by means of a coiled spring 18 that connects the uprights and anarm projecting from the rock-shaft. The

presser-feet 12 are normally held in alinement' with the face of thedisplay of the first i opposition to their spring control by a rotatorycam earl 4 which is mounted-upon the v r v drivenshaft 8. The hub isheld'in frictional contact ,with one face of a 'juxtaposedsprocket-wheel? by a coiled spring 15 which I surrounds the shaft and ismaintained under compression by a collar 15- that is fast upon saidshaft. --The cam hub 14 also carries a tappet spur'16, which spurnormally projects in the path of'travel of the feed finger 10. that iscarried by one of the chain belts. Positioned rearwardly of'thecollecting magazine is a pair of collecting carriersin the form of chainbelts 18, which chain belts are mounted upon upper and lower sprocketwheels 19, 19, respectively, the same being carried by upper and lowershafts 20,- 20, respectively. 7 The lower shaft 20 receives itsmotionfrom the drive shaft ,8thr ough sprocket-wheels 21, 213mm are mountedupon'the drive shaftand the lower shaft 2-0, respectively, and in .beltgear connection. Positionedover the lower shaft 20 isfa' rock-shaft 22,which rock-shaft carries 5 a' pairvof presser feet 23, the same beingupon a plane in alin'ement with the rear face of the-collectingmagazine; movement of these "feet, iscontrolled in one direction by acoiled spring'24c, which is connected to the-juxtaposed frame uprightand an arm of the rock-shaft 22." A tail-piece 23' of one ofj th'e'ifeet'23 is arranged'to engage a cam ear 25-tliat projects from a rotatoryhub 25, which hub is loosely mounted upon the shaft 20 and is heldinfrictional engagement with the face {of the juxtaposedsprocket-wheel 19by a coiled spring 26 that is confined by a .collar, which collar issecured to the sprocket-carrying shaft 20. The cam hub 25 is alsoprovided with a feed finger 27 that is arranged to be engaged by a feedfinger 18, the. same'being one of a comp'anion pair that are carried bythe collect- I ing carriers or chain belts 18. Hence it will I beobserved that: the front. display carriers and the rear or collectingcarriers comprising the chain belts and their associated presser footcontrolling mechanisms are similar in construction,the only differencebeing that the working stretches of the display carrier mechanismtravels upwardly, while the 'working stretch of the collecting carrierstravel downwardly.

Byreferringespecially to Fig. 2,"theoperationflof the mechanism is asfollows: The

working-stretch of the display carriers, in traveling upward, will causethe feed fingers 10 to engage. the bottom edge of the first card in the"collecting magazine. This I A in the display magazine are pushedbackward in order that the entrance throat of said display magazine maybe cleared, this action of the presser foot being hereinafter moreclearly described. After the card it has been completely shifted to itsposition of display in the upper or display magazine, the feed finger 10will engage the tappet spur 16 and, as the chain travels over thesprocket 7 the cam hub 14- will be caused to rotate with saidsprocket-wheel. Hence, as the cam car 14 engages the straight lowersurface of the foot 11, said foot will be momentarily forced inwardlyand thus the entire stack of cards A will be pushed back. The rear cardy of the series A will hence be forced clear of the retaining ledge 4 inopposition to a pair of very delicate leaf springs 28 with which therail sections 3 are provided. These springs only serve to hold the lastcard g upon the ledge a mounder the lower edge of the card y, in comingto which position they wipe the rear face of said card. 7 It should beunderstood that these card are of such weight that they will readilydrop and hence, as the card y falls downwardly it will engage the feet18, which will now travel downwardly in connection with the workingstretch of the chains and thus permit the rear card y to settle slowlyinto nested alinement with the stack of cards B in the collectingmagazine, the card y being now the rear card of said stack. Previous tothe card y being introduced into the collecting stack the cam-controlledpresser foot 23 will impart'a forward movement to theentire stack ofcards B, whereby a space is formed at their rear for receiving the cardy and, incidentally, the front or facing card a of the series B will bepushed forward in the magazine to a position where it will be engaged bythe feed finger 10 of the display carrier mechanism and lifted by saidfinger to a position of display similar to that described in connectionwith the front card :10.

It is manifest from the foregoing descrip tion that the cards areshifted successively and a card will be displayed at the end of eachcomplete cycle of the series. Hence it is obvious that a number ofadvertising tables or cards can be economically and automaticallydisplayed by manipulating the same from one stack to the other in themanner set forth. It is also withinithe scope of my invention to employother visible signals such as lights or bells in order to attractattention to the advertising matter displayed.

While I have shown and described a machine for displaying tables'orcards especially for advertising purposes, it is ob viously within thescope of my invention to use the machine as a signal device or indicatorfor streets or for analogous purposes.

I claim:

1. A machine for displayingtables comprising upper and lower magazineshaving bottom supports inclined in opposite directions, an endlesscarrier mechanism positioned at the front of one of the magazines, asimilar endless carrier mechanism positioned at the rear of saidmagazine, means in connection with the carriers for engaging the outertables contained in each magazine, and a cam-actuated mechanism forlaterally shifting the stacks of tables in opposite directions.

2. A machine for displaying tables comprising upper and lower magazineshaving bottom supports inclined in opposite directions adapted toreceive separate stacks of tables, the bottom support of the uppermagazine being arranged to form a throat in Copies of this patent may beobtained for communication with the lower magazine, sprocket carriedchain belts mounted upon opposite faces of the lower magazine, a motorfor driving the chain belts, a finger carried by each chain belt forengagement with the opposite outer tables of each magazine,spring-controlled presser feet for laterally shifting the stacks oftables in oppo-' site directions, actuating cams for the feet, andme'anscarried by the cams for engagement with the chain belts.

3. A machine for displaying tables comprising upper and lower magazineshaving bottom supports inclined in opposite directions adapted toreceive separate stacks of tables, the bottom support of the uppermagazine being arranged to form a throat in communication with the lowermagazine, paired endless carriers mounted upon opposite faces of themagazines, a motor for driving the pairs of carriers, fingers carried byeach pair of carriers for engagement with the opposite outer tables ofeach magazine, presser feet for laterally shifting the stacks of tablesin opposite directions, actuating means for'the feet, and means carriedby the feet actuating means for engagement with the aforesaid carriers.

In testimony'that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto set my hand atMilwaukee in the county of Milwaukee and State of Wiscousin in thepresence of two witnesses.

' BERT APPLEBY. Witnesses:

CLEO W. YoUNG, G. O. WAYLAND.

five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents. Washington,D. G.

